Court drops comment on religious conversion

The Supreme Court of India today withdrew its comments about religious conversion amid rights groups and Christian leaders expressing concern over such comments.

On Jan. 21, while delivering judgment on the murder of missioner Graham Staines, it said the missioner was killed because he was engaged in religious conversion.

The court Suo Motto repelled those wordings that were â€śunconstitutional,â€ť said lawyer Sister Mary Scaria who practices in the Supreme Court.

The repelled paragraph of the judgment says Staines and his two minor sons were burnt to death while they were sleeping inside a station wagon at Manoharpur, Orissa state, with an â€śintention to teach a lesson to Graham Staines about his religious activities, namely, converting poor tribals to Christianity. All these aspects have been correctly appreciated by the High Court and modified the sentence of death into life imprisonment with which we concur."

The comment had sparked expression of dismay and concern across India.

The court has â€śin effect de-legitimizedâ€ť the constitutional right to propagate oneâ€™s religion, said Mahendra Parida, an activist in Orissa.

The court made the remarks while upholding the life sentence given to the killers of the Australian Evangelical missioner in Orissa in 1999.

The prosecution had sought the death sentence for Ravindrapal Singh who led a mob that torched Staines and his two young sons.

Indian laws allow the death penalty only for the â€śrarest of the rareâ€ť cases and the Supreme Court agreed with the defense that Singh committed the crime to teach the missioner a lesson for indulging in conversion among tribal people.

Parida, a Hindu lawyer working among tribal people in Orissa, says the court stand â€śis disturbing and dangerousâ€ť and would embolden Hindu radicals who spread the misconception that Christians use social service as a faĂ§ade to convert the poor.

Kedar Mishra, a journalist in Orissa, says the courtâ€™s remarks contradicted the constitution that allows a person to profess, practice and propagate oneâ€™s religion.

Shubhankar Ghosh, who looks after the works started by Staines, terms conversion as â€śa misnomerâ€ť since a federal commission that probed the Australianâ€™s murder could find no evidence of conversion.

Bishop Thomas Thiruthalil of Balesore says the conversion charge is â€śa well-planned misinformation and excuse for dastard and diabolic attacks on Christians.â€ť